Rock Hill Board of May 2017 Historic Review Preservation Month 2017 Thirty Years … and Counting This year, the City of Rock Hill marks 30 years of recognizing the im- portance of historic preservation. In 1987, City Council formed the Rock Hill Board of Historic Review, a group of seven volunteer citizens charged with aiding in the protecting the character of architecturally and historically significant structures within the locally designated his- toric districts. These citizens donate their time each month to prepare for the public hearing, which is held on the first Thursday of each month in City Council Chambers at City Hall at 6 PM. Each Board member takes the time to carefully consider each Certificate of Appropriateness applica- tion, the pros and cons of each request, and how the Board’s decision may create a permanent change to an historic structure and district. 662 East Main Street ca 1926 Without this group, many structures may have undergone significant restored 2016 changes—or demolition—destroying the historic character of the building and surrounding neighborhood. Each Certificate of Appropriateness request is considered individually Inside this issue without making comparisons to past applications, because each building Economics of PreservaƟon .......... 2 has its own unique set of circumstances. For example, the Board may allow new windows on one building because the replacement windows Frank Lloyd Wright ...................... 3 installed in the 1980s are no longer viable, while it may refuse another Flair for Repair ............................ 4 property with original windows, requiring repair instead. Historic Rock Hill………………………..4 The City’s Design Review Guideline Manual for Historic Properties (more commonly known as the Guidelines) provides uniform design standards InformaƟon about the Board of Historic Review, the City’s locally for property owners with respect to best practices in rehabilitation and designated historic districts, and appropriate new construction. The Board applies these standards when preservaƟon informaƟon is availa- making decisions. ble online at cityofrockhill.com/ historic. If you have any quesƟons Structures considered as “contributing” on the National Register of His- as to whether or not your structure is located within an historic dis- toric Places are held to a higher standard—because these structures trict, or if you just general ques- are considered exemplary representations of what makes that historic Ɵons about historic preservaƟon, district remarkable. “Non-contributing” structures have either undergone feel free to contact Janice E Miller, [email protected] or significant changes or were built after the historic district’s era of sig- 803.817.5129. nificance, such as a gas station built in the 1970s, but these buildings may be just as important to the local district as they may help define the district as a whole. However, the Guidelines allow the Board to exercise more flexibility on requests for changes to non-contributing properties. Economics of Preservation Lindsay Stuber, Historic Rock Hill I’m sure that when you think about historic preservation, plumbers, painters, and other project employees will you think about historical societies, big plantations or spend their wages locally, which impacts local commerce. historic houses, or even cities like Charleston or Savan- All across the US, rehabilitation projects continue to out- nah. You probably don’t necessarily think about Rock Hill perform new construction in the number of jobs created, but in reality, historic preservation is all around us. Rock the increase in local household incomes, and in impact Hill’s rich industrial history is reflected in its historic ar- on local businesses. chitecture in building that stand today, like the Cotton Historic Preservation has spurred revitalization across Factory down the street. The Cotton Factory opened in South Carolina for decades. From 1984 – 2000, down- 1881 as Rock Hill’s first Mill, was listed on the National town revitalization projects have led to the creation of Register of Historic Places in 1992, and is now the beau- more than 6,150 jobs, 1,750 business opening or relocat- tifully restored home of Williams and Fudge. York Coun- ing to downtown districts, and the rehabilitation of over ty, as a whole, has over 800 properties on the National 1,580 buildings. In Rock Hill, historic preservation projects Register of Historic Places, which puts us right up there have truly made downtown Rock Hill what it is today! with Charleston County and Richland County for the num- Who remembers Town Center Mall? After it was demol- ber of registered places and districts. ished, Main Street was returned to its traditional look, It is this environment, one with varied heritage and styles, once again showcasing the original building facades. which attracts tourists, new investment, and even new Soon, new businesses began to pop up around the Main residents, Historic preservation creates jobs, spurs down- Street corridor and today we have restaurants, apart- town revitalization, and is a vehicle for tourism, specifical- ments, event space, and other businesses all directly ly heritage tourism. impacting our local economy. The “rediscovery” of our downtown generates tax revenue and has an overall posi- When the decision is made to repurpose a building, like tive economic impact on our local economy. the Cotton Factory or the Lowenstein Building, more manpower is needed than that with new construction The piece of historic preservation that likely impacts you projects. Preservation projects require niched skilled con- the most is Heritage Tourism. In the US, tourism is an tractors, architects, laborers, etc. which leads to greater 18 billion dollar industry a year. In South Carolina, tour- economic impact in job creation and capital investment. ism dollars spent totaled $20.2 billion in 2015, with herit- In fact, more than 400 direct hires are created annually age tourism as one of the largest growing segments of and another 369 additional jobs are created as a result the tourist industry. In past years, heritage tourism cre- of this preservation construction activity. In addition, his- ated a capital investment of as much as 325.6 million toric preservation projects are generally more labor inten- dollars annually through direct spending. Heritage Tourism sive, which means that 60-70% of total project costs go also resulted in nearly 9,097 jobs and more than 2,300 toward hiring specialized labor as compared to 50-60% indirect jobs in South Carolina. An additional estimated for new construction projects. As you know, increased 2.6 million more people visited a historic place than went capital investment positively impacts our local economy, to an amusement park in 2010. For every international especially since labor is usually hired locally. Carpenters, visitor who played golf in South Carolina, 14 visited a historic place. Rock Hill’s historic structures represent our community’s tangible past. By preserving our history, eco- nomic development and tourism opportunities are created to ensure Rock Hill’s future. May is Preservation Month Check out the National Trust for Historic Preservation page, savingplaces.org, to learn more. 2 Frank Lloyd Wright in South Carolina Janice E Miller, City of Rock Hill Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is credited with establishing the distinctly American architectural style known as the Prairie School. Wright’s de- signs take into account the nature surrounding the building site so the new structure seems to blend in seamlessly into the background. One of only two known structures designed and built by Wright that are found in South Carolina include Auldbrass (Old Brass), located in Yemassee, Beaufort County SC. This working farm was de- signed and built by Wright between the years 1940 & 1951. This privately-owned property, which includes the main house and a number of outbuildings designed by Wright, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Photo & Description from the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Frank Lloyd Wright designed and built over 532 homes ‐ but very few are located in the South, and only two exist in South Carolina: Auldbrass and Broad Margin. Broad Margin, located in Greenville, SC, was designed in 1951 and built in 1954 as a private residence. As with Auldbrass, this structure followed the form and function of nature, blending in seamlessly with its surroundings. As with other Wright-designed structures, the majority of the interior furnishings were also designed by Wright specifi- cally for this home. Construction tech- niques used in this building were ahead of their time: the heating system is provided by hot water circulating through copper pipes embedded in the concrete floors, and walls were secured using brass screws instead of nails. Although the structure was only 24 years old at the time, it was listed on For More Information… the National Register of Historic Places The South Carolina Department of Archives & History has photo- in 1978 due to the importance of the graphs and nomination forms of all South Carolina’s National Register properties and districts online at scdah.sc.gov. For a list of properties architect and construction techniques. throughout the United States, visit the National Park Service website Photo & Description from the National Register of Historic Places at nps.gov/nr/. Nomination 3 Historic Rock Hill Update Historic Rock Hill Events